Core Weeks (June 25 – July 15)
The first two weeks of the summer in Los Angeles will follow a classic debate camp routine. The core curriculum is taught by top faculty and supplemented by electives on selected philosophy, theory, policy, and skills topics. Debaters can expect most days to follow this schedule:
Morning lab
Throughout the two week session, students will spend time with their lab, a class grouped by skill level and interests with about a dozen students and 2-3 faculty. Premier will maintain a balance between senior staff with experience teaching and recently graduated students. We design all of our content to be responsive to the specific skill level of the small group.
Core lecture and drills
Students will attend a mandatory lecture on the camp core that will be tailored to their skill level. E.g. novices or debaters with only one year of experience may take Intro to Kantianism while the most experienced debaters will take an advanced lecture on contemporary disagreements within Kantianism, different metaethical approaches employed by Kantians, and their responses to critics.
Lunch
Students will have access to the CSUN dining halls and the student union, which has a variety of options such as Panda Express and Chic-fil-A. We are able to accommodate any specific dietary needs. The cost of meals are included in tuition.
Afternoon lab
Up to the discretion of the lab leaders. This may include practice debates, drills, or supplementary lecture material. In the second week, practice debates will be a daily feature of all labs.
Elective
Students will have the option to attend lectures on subjects of their choosing. No elective lectures will be recycled from previous years’ teaching as Premier is a new camp, and all lecturers are required to write new material from scratch.
Dinner
Students will go to the dining hall and choose from a wide variety of healthy and delicious meals that rotate daily.
Evening
Our most popular and frequent evening event is office hours where students have a chance to work with instructors 1 on 1 and clear up any questions they may have from the day. Demonstration debates and lectures are also common in this timeframe.